This Month in a Nutshell

Although April was a bit wetter and, in some areas, a bit colder than normal, now we’re moving into May, and the forecast for lawn care looks to be going the way we want it to! One of the main tasks last month was to get the moss on your lawn raked; if you managed to get your moss raking done in April, then May’s lawn care should be easier on your back!

Summary 'to do' list for now through May:

• Fertilising
• Weed Control
• Aeration
• Top Dressing
• Repairs and Seeding the Lawn

The Weather

May Forecast courtesy of the Met Office:

Saturday 4 May - Monday 13 May

A fairly uncertain period through the bank holiday weekend with more likely a warm but cloudy period with bright spells, greatest in the north and showers more likely in the south. However, there is also potential for a more unsettled spell to spread from the west with fresh winds and bands of rain mid-weekend, but the certainty of this happening is still unclear at this point.

Into the new week, all areas will likely see a mixture of showery periods or spells of rain, though generally, drier conditions are expected. Overall, southern parts of the UK will probably be driest and sunniest, with a north-westerly wind most likely bringing more changeable conditions across the north or northwest. Temperatures should remain close to or a little above normal for early May.

Tuesday 14 May - Tuesday 28 May

In this period, the chances of unsettled weather are slightly less than usual in the far north but about the same as usual for the bulk of the UK. Therefore, some spells of wet weather are likely for all, but perhaps especially across southern/central areas, while the driest conditions relative to normal are probably further north. The chance of temperatures below or above average is fairly balanced overall. Still, it is worth noting that average temperatures rise by around 1C per week at this time of year.

Did your Lawn Suffer in the Drought last Summer?

By the looks of our email inbox, we see a lot of poorly lawns that couldn’t be repaired after 2023’s summer and moderately dry start to 2024 in some areas. But don’t worry, we have help for you in our Lawn Trends section, but we wanted to draw your attention to the practice of using a wetting agent as a preventative in our article How to Stop my Lawn Drying Out.

What's New?

We have updated dozens of articles in our Lawn Care Problems section and tidied up the on-site navigation to help you care for your lawn. This area answers many of the most common and not-so-common problems and questions you ask us daily. Here are some of the most common articles browsed by you in the last few months:

New for this Lawn Diary

• Restoring an Old Lawn
• Which Lawn Moss Killer to use and When

From the previous Lawn Diary

• Best Lawn Food for Spring
• When to Feed the Grass
• Spring Lawn Repair

Lawn Trends - A MUST Visit

Please visit the most important and current seasonal articles in our Lawn Trends Section Here.

Mowing the Lawn

A slightly late start to regular mowing is needed for most but keep on top of it, as rain and the wet ground will make mowing difficult if you let its growth get out of hand. Therefore, mow at every opportunity - if you miss a week, you can guarantee the weather will stop you from mowing until the grass is up to the window sill!

Depending on the weather conditions, adjust your mowing:

• If the ground is wet in the morning, wait until the lawn dries out a bit first and then mow in the afternoon to allow the grass time to dry a bit
• Keep the cut on the high side if growth is slow due to soggy, cold ground or dryness
• Be careful with the turns if the ground is soft
• Lower the cut when growth picks up and the lawn has dried out some more

For the future, if mowing to preserve moisture, then you need to mow as high as possible:

• The grass is 85% water, so removing grass removes water.
• Long grass creates a barrier between drying sun and wind and moist soil
• Long grass keeps the soil cooler.
• Long grass traps more dew, and with low nighttime temperatures at present, there are heavy dews about giving the lawn a daily drink.
• If the mower instructions allow you to mow with the box off.
• If you have set the mower to take the top off, these fine clippings will disappear in 24 hours, returning valuable moisture to the lawn.
• CAUTION: If weeds are seeding (flowering is not a problem), then it is best to keep the box on!

You also need to mow with sharp blades to minimise water loss through jagged cuts with blunt blades.

Mowers

For the mowing season, you need to do two things: keep it clean and keep it sharp. If the grass is damp, it can easily build up inside the mower, so always give it a good brush, scrape or hose down after every use. Secondly, if you do a lot of mowing, be prepared to sharpen or swap blades mid-year to maintain a clean cut.

Fertilising the Lawn

If you haven’t already fertilised the lawn, this month is still a good time to apply spring feed if the conditions are suitable. If you’re doing lawn maintenance, put your lawn fertiliser in afterwards.

There are a variety of Lawnsmith Fertilisers that can be applied at this time of year. Being granular and slow-release, they offer gentle growth and are perfect for getting the grass revitalised and in good condition. The choice is simple and based on your soil and your enthusiasm for lawn care:

• Dry (not liquid) or Granular Fertiliser MUST be slow-release.
• Only use granular products (pellets 1mm to 4mm in size), as these have reduced scorch potential. Powdered products have a much higher scorch risk.
• Once the base granular feed is applied, you can ‘Top-up’ with our soluble feed Solugreen as and when required throughout the season.

Spreading Fertiliser Videos Spraying Videos View Fertiliser Range

Weed Control

The weeds may also be a little behind schedule, so don’t rush to apply anything just yet. Chances are that the end of May and all of June will be the best time to apply weed killer to the whole lawn, either by knapsack sprayer or watering can, to get the best result.

If you’ve been diligent with your weed control and have few weeds, then keep at it with a combination of spot-treating individual weeds with a Ready to Use Weed Killer or manually removing any obvious large weeds.

See Weed Identification for more detail and control methods.

Watch the Video See Weed Killers

Moss Control

Normally, it’s getting a bit late to start a full moss control programme, but the cold conditions may mean that moss removal has had to be delayed. Be patient; you can rake your lawn anytime growth is good, so raking the lawn in late May or even June is fine!

The main problem with renovation in early summer is that it may turn hot and dry, which in turn will mean problems with recovery and getting seeds to germinate if the area cannot be watered. As a last resort, it can always be postponed until autumn.

A word of warning for weeds

Weeds are starting to flower and seed, so any damage from raking/scarifying may result in a few extra weeds. So, be gentle with the raking and make sure you overseed bare areas. Weedol weed killer is the only weed killer that allows use after 2 months of seeding.

Advice for applying moss killer

Please also note you may cause some transient grass burn to the lawn if you apply a ferrous sulphate-based moss killer in dry conditions.

In conditions like this, pop the sprinkler on the lawn for just 5 minutes before treatment to dampen the grass and moss. Perhaps treating at the end of the day would also be beneficial.

Spring raking tips

Finally, it is worth reflecting that getting too heavy-handed with the lawn in spring might not be such a good idea. At Lawnsmith, we have always promoted raking, moss control and light scarifying in the spring, with more invasive heavy scarifying and thatch removal in the autumn. Though this strategy helps avoid a spring weed invasion, it is not much consolation if a hard winter leaves you with more moss than grass, and once it’s removed, you’re left with a lot of bare soil! If this is the case, keep at it, overseed, fertilise, and perhaps adjust some lawn care practices. Your grass will improve, and moss invasion will be less.

See Lawn Scarifying & Raking for procedures.

Watch the Video Moss Killer Products

Watering the Lawn

Normally, I only recommend watering if you have put new grass seed or turf down or prior to applying ferrous sulphate if conditions are dry.

Do NOT apply ferrous sulphate on new seedlings.

I’ve always believed that a properly fed and cut lawn will ensure deep roots and good colour in all but the driest summers. Unfortunately, as many of you have learned, summers such as those of 2018 can cause serious damage, particularly to older lawns. A new lawn might be your best option if you often end up with dead grass patches after dry spells. Anyway, if you are going to water, please read Watering the Lawn; it’ll help you get the most out of watering and prevent unwanted side effects such as red thread.

Aeration & De-compaction

As discussed in Lawn Aeration Advice, aeration is highly beneficial if done properly. It is relatively easy to use lawn aerators such as rolling aerators or sandals. At the least, you should be looking to use a fork on the most trafficked areas around clotheslines, path-to-lawn entry points, kid’s goal mouth and postman’s shortcut. Add grass seed to any worn areas after aeration, and then fertilise.

The benefits may not always be obvious, but a well-aerated lawn will stay greener longer in dry weather, utilise showers more readily and allow excess water to move through the soil more easily. Spring through summer is ideal for spiking with aerating sandals, roller or garden fork. Even when the surface is getting firm light aeration or pricking, perhaps only 1cm deep will open the surface to better accept the briefest shower.

Please note that it is now too late to be slitting or using a hollow tine aerator unless you can irrigate. These increase soil drying, so if conditions dry overall, you are just compounding the problem.

Watch the Video See Aerators

Raking & Scarifying

Raking out moss if grass growth is good will help your lawn. Be gentle and keep damage to a minimum, as zillions of weed seeds are now waiting for a bare patch in your lawn! Heavy scarifying for thatch should be left until August or September as the procedure is far more invasive, though it is better to do it now if you weren’t able to do it before winter took over.

Watch the Video See the Scarifier

Repairs & Renovations

Renovation requires water to help the grass repair and recover, so only undertake renovation if you can water it should temperatures rise and everything starts drying out! Any seeding or turfing done after this month will require regular watering (by you) or rainfall to establish.

Pests & Diseases

Spring is often a disease-free time for lawns, with red thread only occurring as humidity levels rise from May onwards. This means that if it warms AND rains, you could be in for an outbreak. High nitrogen levels reduce the severity considerably, so a good dose of fertiliser should be applied at the first signs.

Dry weather and, therefore, drying soil will make fairy rings, dry patch and dry soil conditions more obvious. If your lawn has these conditions, using a wetting agent such as YUCCA WETTA or Satugran will go a long way to reducing the severity of the problem and enabling good grass growth.

Chafer Beetles may also start to be seen around the garden. A very common insect throughout the UK and Europe hatching in May to June - hence the name June Bug! If you see large numbers, have a read of our Chafer Grub advice, as this may indicate a forthcoming lawn problem. Unfortunately, no pesticides are now available to control chafer grubs in the lawn, and we’ve yet to hear from anyone who has had success with nematodes.

View Wetting Agents

Rolling the lawn

Consider this appropriate for the finest of lawns to consolidate any areas raised by worm activity and frost heave. Do this any time into May on relatively firm ground. Please note that rolling will not level a lawn, but top dressing will.

Top Dressing

Top dressing is an advanced lawn care procedure that reduces thatch and smoothens the lawn’s surface. If you are not a lawn nut, then I suggest you don’t bother!

If you are, then as soon as you’ve got some good grass growth, lower the mowing height and get your first top dressing done. Application rates and frequency will vary depending on your goals and type of lawn, so please read our top dressing advice.

The New Lawn

With dry months, it may be wise to put this off until autumn unless you can water the area regularly. The warmer temperatures are great for germinating grass seed, but you need daily watering or rain.

View Grass Seed Blends

*Lawnsmith product categories from this diary:

• Lawnsmith Fertilisers
• Lawn Aerators & Scarifier
• Lawn Weed Killer
• Grass Seed

Thanks for visiting the Lawn Diary

Have a great month!